September 2012, according to my iPhone...

Hi guys,
This post is a couple of days late, but it's better late than never! The obligatory bloggers favourite 'my month in pictures' post....

Shopping..

I can't get enough of my new studded bangle from Topshop; I've worn it nearly every day this month. £8 well spent! Another item on my 'can't stop wearing' list is my new pink Dior lipstick: such a vibrant shade, and a huge jump from my usual red but I really like it! Primark have all of their new season stock instore: how cute is this owl hat for just £8? And finally: Dior Baby Shoes!! Extravagent, ridiculous, but I just couldn't help myself.

Nails...

My obsession with painting my nails has reached another peak this month! In another old-trend revival, I am loving leopard print nails and update my style and colour constantly: a sign I have too much time on my hands perhaps?! Here are all the colours shown above:

Grey nail varnish, Essie, Then and Now, Red nail varnish, No 7, Devils Delight, Brown nail varnish, Bourjois So Laque, Santal opulent, Blue nail varnish, Bourjois So Laque, Bleu Model, Silver nail varnish, Nails Inc, Montpelier square, Black nail pen, Models Own WAH nails

Outgoing...

My main activity for the month was London Fashion Week -which feels ages ago now! It felt amazing to be back in London and doing something non-baby related though. My favourite show by far was the Tahir Sultan show (pictured above). I have also indulged in afternoon tea twice this month - not good for my waistline - and hubby and I have another one booked for in a fortnight's time! Finally, a wedding - it's not easy to find wedding-appropriate maternity wear, but I did my best!

Have you had a good September? What exciting things have you been up to? I'd love to know!

Love Tor xx

Belated Christmas post: Behold the make-up!

Hi guys,
I meant to write this in the lull between Christmas and New Year, but instead I found myself spending that time very constructively: and by constructively, I mean eating Quality Street straight from the tin and watching at least four films a day!

This Christmas I was gifted with many wonderous things (much like the baby Jesus himself, although there was no Myrrh) but my main gift from my parents, and the gift i'm uber excited to share with you guys, was a gorgeous Cath Kidston make up bag filled with all of the wonderful make-up I wanted for the wedding. Behold:


The make up bag is bridal white, but the floral pattern makes it versatile and usable after the event. It came with a matching manicure set. I love the Dior Show mascara; it makes my eyelashes look at least 12 feet long (OK, that's a slight exageration, but it makes them look pretty long!) The lipstick i'm wearing is the YSL one which is a really vibrant matte red (called rouge temptation) Because of the bold lips, i'm keeping the rest of my face understated: just nude and flawless.

The part of the present I liked the most though were the Calvin Klein make up brushes (which didn't photograph well enough to show) they're thick but soft, and they don't malt at all. I love the presentation case they come in too, which is handy for keeping them organised, and (more importantly) it looks really sleek.

I never like having my make up done by someone else (maybe I just haven't met the right make up artist yet, but I feel too made up and it doesn't suit me) and so I knew I was going to want to do it myself on my wedding day. I just didn't expect I would be doing it in such luxury; I have been completely spoilt!

Love, Tor x

Behold: The wedding shoes from Dior

Hi guys,

So , as I mentioned on Thursday, Mike and I had a pre-pre Christmas dinner Yesterday (we like to call it fake Christmas) We ate a Christmas dinner, opened our presents, played board games and Singstar, and watched Christmas films. It was the best day.

What I didn't mention is that I already knew what my main present was going to be, and i'm super-excited to finally be able to share them with you: these are the shoes for my wedding which we got from the Dior outlet store at Bicester village:-

I didn't want a cream satin pump I was never going to wear again, but I didn't want something that would clash with my dress either. These shoes are perfect: nude slingbacks will go with all my fancy summer dresses, and the gold leather sole and heel is a little bit showy. They're versatile, wearable after the event and all-round perfect wedding shoes. I sigh a little with love every time I look at them, and I can't stop trying them on!

I was also treated to some Nina Ricci perfume, lots of Hello Kitty goodies, choccies, and a much-needed new umberella! Lucky me!!

Love, Tor xx

Becky's Birthday - Come Prancing!

Dear blogosphere,

In two hours, I'll 25 years old. Hitting the quart! I'm not going to make your ears bleed with all that droney "Gah! I'm so old" nonsense. I'm young, dumb and full of 'Come Dancing' with all its associated frills.

Surrender to me the following birthday gifts:

Dior Fertility lady stilettos:

Keeping the feet sweet and the ovaries gooey.
Forgive me Imelda, I love them.


The River Island Nazi bag.
Fascistic *and* fierce!


My Judy Garland Life by Susie Boyt
It's no birthday without Judy and spiraling obsession.
It's no life without Judy and spiraling obsession.



ANNND...


A full pony.

I'm sitting by my letterbox in anticipation of your bounty.

Love,
Becky.

Couture: Madame X and fetish wear

Okay blogsphere,

I am an ill young woman. I have not been blogging and the glorious Tor has been taking my load. The truth is that I am still ill but there is a time when one has to put aside one's debilitating conditions and mucus membrane disorders to talk loudly and openly about sequins.

I'm not missing couture, no sir, not for no one.

So, we've got the big guns: Dior, Gaultier, Armani Prive, Lacroix and the beloved Valentino. I'm not going to talk about the departure of the big V because he and his chiffon deserve a post all their own. Equally, I'm going to gloss over Armani, even though there were some glorious things on show, particularly his foray into geometric-shapes-plus-pleating. It was, surprisingly, one of the least stodgy collections around *cough* Givenchy *cough*.

Click to make large 'n' pretty, cuz Mr Armani likes it big:

Nope, I want to talk about the triumph of the Erdem collection and the failure (in my eyes) of the work at Dior.

Erdem first - what an awesome display of goth-itude. Truly, this collection was beautiful, youthful, some pieces conceivable as daywear and had all the fun of the gimp suit without the sweaty PVC crotch. I loved it:

I especially found the first look with its leather-queen/Victoriana duality. If Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady went to this sort of Ascot, I'm pretty sure she woulda got her face cut good. Excellent. The Alexander McQueen-y black gown with its lovely organic forms (read: twigs for lashing) sprouting from the bodice is gorgeous - beautiful and quite possibly evil. The onesie/haemophiliac gimp suit is genius. Love the softness of the chiffon bolero. I've covered up the finale wedding dress with Gary the Gimp, mostly because I enjoy him so much but also because the key to the whole outfit is that severe neck ruff. No bride will be biting her stitches on Erdem's watch, that's fo sure.

Dior, however was shocking. Now, I love Galliano as much as any fashion nerd but although his couture was undeniably lovely and beautifully constructed, it felt like so much revisited territory. Now, this was also my problem with Alexander McQueen's 'best of' S/S08 collection. I've already seen this boys - dream me a new dream. Galliano was way into his citrus brights and complex chinoserie AGAIN only this time he has additional reference points in John Singer Sargent's Madame X and in the lacquered updoes of Diana Vreeland's Vogue years.

(from L-R) Look at the difference between A/W 07 couture (little pic) and A/W 08 Dior (big pic). Not an inspiring leap - at least not for me. You can see Madame X giving good neckline inspiration for the sparkly blue gown. I dunno - I feel like when I look at this painting, the Dior dress looks all the more Las Vegas and not in a good way. I really like the final two gown - the cell membrane-y print, the fractured sun (Klimt = another big influence this season) but I don't feel that the collection ultimately coheres and I certainly don't feel that pit of stomach awe that Dior usually conjures. And that sucks.

However, I am obsessed with one factor - the hair.

Crazy anti-gravity Edwardian hair. Yes, Yes and Yes. It's 1.40am now but at 11pm, I felt the Dior spirit rush through me and dear god, I began to style. This was ill advised especially since I was knackered and in my scuzzy mismatched pyjamas. Still, the fashion magazines are all saying pyjamas are practically acceptable daywear now, right? Right? So I backcombed and ratted and hairsprayed until I thought my arm would fall off, et voila:

I just couldn't get the curve right. What's more pathetic is that it took AGES. Forgive me, I am a hair dunce and I deserved all I got. Apparently catwalk styling can't be achieved with an amateur with just Elnett, Boots own make-up and a dream.

If you'll excuse me, I have to get the mascara out of my eyebrows - it's starting to set.

Love,
Becky.

Hide my eyes, make me pretty

I admit it, i'm one of that rare breed of horrible (potentially pretentious) people that wears sunglasses in the winter. Cold sunny days make me happy because they mean I can protect my eyes stylishly from the bright white light.

I don't hate myself for my winter sunglasses wearing ways too much though, because i'll have you know i'm in good company (no,dear reader, i am not thinking of Victoria Beckham!)

Jackie Onassis, widow of the former US president JFK and all round style-icon was famous for wearing her statement shades all year round and even today "Jackie O glasses" is a phrase used synonomously with "oversized glasses". Sigh. And noone before or since has ever pulled off the look so effortlessly. All hail queen Jackie! We oversized shades enthusiasts salute you (whatever the time of year)!

Now even if you don't subscribe to the "i'll wear sunglasses with everything goddammit" philosophy-and if you don't you should really think about it- with summer just around the corner (I promise it is, you can almost smell it) now is the perfect time to invest in a brand new pair of super cool-because no other kind of cool will do- shades. With this in mind, Miss Becky and I set out to find the finest of the finest sunglasses for your viewing pleasure.

Our first stop was H&M, as they are one of the only few highstreet stores to have their new summer sunglasses range in stock already:

Help! Our noses seem to have disapeared! Bad, bad H&M.......

For these fine oversized offerings in a variety of different shapes and colours, H&M deserve a ginormous thumbs up. And with each pair coming in at under £5, they represent extrordinary value for money (particularly if, like me, you sit on and therefore break at least 3 pairs every summer regardless of price or quality)

With this minor eyewear victory under our belt, we headed jauntily (because Becky had brought a new hat from H&M, and jauntily is the only way you can possibly walk sporting a new hat) to the House of Frazer.


As you can no doubt tell from my scrambled enthusings above, I am somewhat of an oversized shades obsessive, so I didn't think I was going to like the Rayban wayfarers worn by such celebs as Kelly Osbourne and Sienna Miller (just in case you don't look at any gossipy celeb blogs now and again!) I usually much prefer Rayban aviators. Especially the dark brown ones. But these glasses were suprisingly comfortable and flattering: particularly as they cut under my (relatively new) fringe- a problem I have been having with the bigger styles.


Becky looked particualry glamourous in these Spitfire offerings, but we both agreed that given their dark colour and shape, they were just too big for her lovely face. In fact, the House of Frazer sunglasses department was a bit of a disapointment, particularly for Becky, with this Dior shades making her pull her saddest and unhappiest face:

Poor, poor becky! If you promise to stop pulling that frog face I shall turn you into a princess to make you feel a little better:

*** Original picture taken from talented charicaturist Killia Llano

Oh Miss O! You really are!